RI HAS NOT OFFERED TO HOST CANCELED ASEAN SUMMIT : MINISTER

Nusa Dua, April 15 (ANTARA) - Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda denied here Wednesday that Indonesia had offered to host the ASEAN Summit 2009 which was canceled by Thailand last week due to a political emergency.

He said Indonesia had never made the offer, neither to ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan nor to other ASEAN member countries.
"It's not true. It's not true that we have offered (to host the ASEAN summi) but it's true that we, like other ASEAN members, have an interest in it," the minister told the press here on Wednesday.
"Indonesia is still in the process of discussing the matter (the postponed ASEAN Summit) with the ASEAN Secretariat General and other ASEAN member countries," he said.
Last Saturday (April 11), President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono decided to return home from a visit to Thailand to attend an ASEAN Summit plus Three, after Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajive had canceled the meeting on security concerns following demonstrations near the venue of the meeting.
Meanwhile, Minister Wirajuda was in Nusa Dua to co-host the Third Bali Regional Ministerial Conference" together with Australia.
Representatives of 41 countries, 19 non-member countries, and 13 international organizations took part in the Third Bali Regional Ministerial Conference (BRMC III) or also known as the Bali Process here on Wednesday (April 15).
Prior to the ministerial conference, senior officials of Indonesia and Australia here on Tuesday discussed technical matters of the conference's topics on people smuggling, human trafficking and related international crimes.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Hassan Wirajuda and his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith held a bilateral meeting on Tuesday before chairing the conference on Wednesday.
The participating countries and world bodies include Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand, IOM, and UNHCR which are grouped in the Bali Process' Advisory Team.
The Bali Process forum, launched in 2002, is co-chaired by Indonesia and Australia. The Indonesian delegates include Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and Justice and Human Rights Minister Andi Mattalata.
The conference was expected to discuss issues among other things on Rohingya refugees who had fled his country, Myanmar, and are currently stranded in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.